Skoda Octavia RS 245: Track Review

The Skoda Octavia RS 245 isn’t exactly a new car. In fact, it was launched at the Auto Expo in February. But then none of us could get our hands on the car because post-Feb 2020, the world as of today is a whole different place. So a good nine months later, here we are at the airstrip at Aamby valley finding ourselves behind the wheel of this very fast Skoda. A little bit about the car, the Octavia RS 245 comes in as a CBU and Skoda had brought in just 200 units, most of which have already been sold out.

Now the RS, since long, has been the quintessential ‘family’ performance car that offers the best balance of performance and practicality at a relatively affordable price tag and in its current avatar it’s at its potent best.

Exterior appearance-wise, the Skoda Octavia RS 245 is a beefed up version of the current generation version sold in India. It gets upgrades that include sportier bumpers with larger air intakes, larger alloys wheels with a striking pattern and a faux diffuser at the rear. The way the car looks now, it cannot be termed as a wolf in sheep’s clothing anymore, in fact in its current avatar it is pretty much a wolf in wolf skin. The low stance, the bright candy colours, the in-your-face alloy-wheel design and those twin exhausts at the back just shout performance car all the way and we love it.

It looks every bit a performance car on the outside and on the inside too. You get an all-black cabin, Alcantara seats, a flat-bottom steering wheel, contrast red stitching and much more to complement the sporty exterior of the car. The seats feel great and it’s easy to get in a good driving position in no time at all. The rest of the car is just as practical and comfortable as the standard Octavia which is great news. So you get terrific legroom and a massive 590 litres of luggage space.

It’s loaded with equipment too. You get an eight-inch infotainment system, 12-way electrically adjustable driver and co-passenger seats, dual zone climate control, virtual cockpit, sunroof and nine airbags.

One look at the engine specs and there is no denying that the RS 245 has all the goods to set your pulse racing. Under the hood is a two-litre, TSI petrol engine and transferring the power to the front wheels is a seven-speed DSG gearbox and there’s plenty of power to be transferred, all of 245bhp and 370Nm.

To help put all that power down on the road, the car gets a vRS mode button, limited slip differential and a suite of electronics. But does it work? Well we had exactly 15 minutes to figure that out on an airstrip and by the time our photographer Kaustubh finished taking these spectacular shots, I just had enough time for a single run down the airstrip. Sport mode switched to, traction control off, I stood on the brakes and mashed the accelerator to enable launch control. There’s just a slight delay as you step off the brakes and then all hell breaks loose.

There is furious wheelspin as the car shoves you into the seat and launches forward. The gearbox is brilliant and is super quick as the speeds build with ludicrous alacrity. I saw over 190 by the time I crossed the 400 meters barrier and the car still had plenty more to give. We don’t doubt Skoda’s claim of 6.6 seconds to a 100kmph and an electronically limited top speed of 250kmph.

Unfortunately that’s all the time we got, but what was clear even with a single run is that the RS 245 continues Skoda’s legendary RS tradition and takes it to even greater heights in its current avatar. We can’t wait to drive this car on the roads and tell you about its handling, ride quality and more importantly real world performance and also if it justifies its Rs. 35.99 lakh price tag. Watch this space for more!

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi